Silva: Each NFL team enters the offseason with a series of pressing needs. Sometimes a team can address them all, sometimes they ignore them all. But if a team's smart, they'll listen to us. These are the most crucial aspects for NFC teams.
SportsTalk: Albert Pujols signs with the Angels and Prince Fielder joins the Tigers. Which team is better now?
Ryan Callahan scored three goals as the New York Rangers beat Philadelphia 5-2 on Saturday for their seventh straight win over the Flyers.
Jeremy Lin hit a free throw with 4.9 seconds left to overcome a dreadful second half and lift the New York Knicks to their fifth straight victory, 100-98, over the Minnesota Timberwolves on Saturday night.
Arc's five up, five down: After No. 11 Michigan State's 58-48 upset of No. 3 Ohio State, you'd be a fool to discount the Spartans title chances now.
CFT: Jordan Jefferson makes it clear he wasn't happy with LSU's game plan in the Tigers' BCS Championship Game loss to Alabama.
Move over, Hollywood and NFL types, golf's two real A-listers take center stage Sunday at Pebble Beach, both in need of a win.
The United States swept favored Switzerland out of the Davis Cup on Saturday when Mardy Fish and Mike Bryan beat Roger Federer and Stanislas Wawrinka 4-6, 6-3, 6-3, 6-3.
Luis Suarez's refusal to shake hands with Patrice Evra overshadowed Manchester United's 2-1 win over rival Liverpool that lifted the defending champions to first place in the Premier League on Saturday.
Marlies Schild of Austria won her sixth World Cup slalom of the season Saturday after overall leader Lindsey Vonn and defending champion Maria Hoefl-Riesch crashed out in the opening run on the windy Pyrenees course.
Robins: It’s the Year of the Dragon on the Lunar calendar, and this Chinese influence could extend to it also being the year of the Pekingese on the green carpet at the 136th Westminster Dog Show on Tuesday.
APNEW YORK - Willie Randolph figured the New York Mets would fire someone. He just didn’t think general manager Omar Minaya would pick him.
“I thought he was talking about whacking a couple of my coaches,” the ex-manager told several New York-area newspapers Wednesday outside his home in Franklin Lakes, N.J.
“That’s why I was stunned. I didn’t think it was going to happen,” Randolph said. “At the time, I felt the way he was talking to me, that I was pretty secure for the time being.”
Minaya fired Randolph, pitching coach Rick Peterson and first base coach Tom Nieto after Monday night’s win over the Los Angeles Angels.
On Sunday, as the Mets split a doubleheader at Shea Stadium with the Texas Rangers, Randolph told the New York Times that he asked Minaya to pull the trigger, if that’s what Minaya had in mind, and not have Randolph travel all the way across the country to Anaheim.
“I actually asked him," Randolph told The Times. "I said, ‘Omar, do this now. If you’re going to do this, do this now. I know you’ve got a lot of pressure on you, but if I’m not the guy to lead this team then don’t let me get on this plane.’ I did say that to him.”
The Mets traveled to the West Coast to start the series in Anaheim, Calif. The firings were announced in an e-mail at 12:14 a.m. PDT Tuesday.
“Not the way I would have handled it,” he said. “Bottom line, it is what it is.”
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Randolph said he watched some of the Mets’ 6-1 loss to the Angels on Tuesday night. Bench coach Jerry Manuel was promoted to run the team the rest of the season.
Randolph was dismissed with the Mets struggling below .500.
“I felt all along this team would play better and we would eventually get into the season and really do well. In my mind, this all happened way, way too early,” he said.
Randolph was set to be an NL coach next month in the All-Star game at Yankee Stadium — where he played and coached for long periods — and said he still hoped to take part.
At 53, Randolph also would like to manage again.
“I’m not ready to retire,” he said. “Once you get a taste of managing, it’s kind of cool.”
SportsTalk: Albert Pujols signs with the Angels and Prince Fielder joins the Tigers. Which team is better now?
DeMarco: Plug in a well-heeled ownership group and negotiate one of those mega-bucks TV deals that are going around, and the Dodgers could become the west coast version of the New York Yankees or Boston Red Sox.
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Jeremy Lin hit a free throw with 4.9 seconds left to overcome a dreadful second half and lift the New York Knicks to their fifth straight victory, 100-98, over the Minnesota Timberwolves on Saturday night.
Wesseling: Each NFL team enters the offseason with a series of pressing needs. Sometimes a team can address them all, sometimes they ignore them all. But if a team's smart, they'll listen to us. These are the most crucial aspects for AFC teams.
Jeremy Lin had the most astounding performance of his remarkable week, scoring a career-high 38 points and outdueling Kobe Bryant as the New York Knicks held off the Los Angeles Lakers 92-85 on Friday night.
